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2025 County Report

Fires in Hanson County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Hanson County responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

1,512 residents FIPS 46061 11 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
12
70 across 5 years
Building fires
0
3 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.

12
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 25.0%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 2 16.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 2 16.7%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 8.3%
Cooking fire, confined to container 1 8.3%
All other categories 3 25.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hanson County?

Sep peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 1
Mar 2
Apr 0
May 1
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 1
Sep 6
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hanson County

70 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 18
2022 19
2023 13
2024 8
2025 12
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
100%
4
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Hanson County compares

Hanson County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.94
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hanson County
7.94
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hanson County
0
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hanson County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hanson County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 46061.

CityPopulation 
Alexandria 839 View ›
Emery 492 View ›
Fulton 80 View ›
Farmer 62 View ›
Rockport Colony 27 View ›
Millbrook Colony 12 View ›
Oak Lane Colony 0 View ›
Plano 0 View ›
Riverside 0 View ›
Rosedale Colony 0 View ›
Epiphany 0 View ›
08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hanson County

5 departments report from this county.

Alexandria
Alexandria
FDID 34001 16 incidents 27 vol
New Elm Springs
—
FDID 34006 1 incidents
Emery
Emery
FDID 34002 0 incidents 1 paid 2 vol
Farmer
Farmer
FDID 34003 0 incidents 1 paid 2 vol
Fulton
Fulton
FDID 34004 0 incidents 1 paid 2 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in SD

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Jasper 2000 NPS 82,295
2 Cottonwood CA 2016 USFS 41,370
3 Power Dam Road 2024 BIA 15,319
4 INDIAN CANYON 2016 USFS 14,297
5 Casino 2022 BIA 12,636
6 Myrtle 2012 NPS 9,944
7 Turkey Day 2022 BIA 5,945
8 Cold Brook WF 2015 NPS 5,444
9 SHIRTTAIL 1991 NPS 3,750
10 BENT RIM 2020 BIA 3,625

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.